Man extradited from Canada to Boulder County

A man wanted on attempted murder and assault charges in a Lafayette case was extradited by the U.S. Marshals Service from Canada to Colorado this week and transferred to Boulder County.

According to a U.S. Marshals Service post on X, Joel Rioux was in custody in Alberta, Canada, awaiting extradition. No further information on how Rioux was arrested in Canada was provided.

He is now in custody at the Boulder County Jail on $150,000 bond as he awaits a preliminary hearing on April 11.

Rioux, 44, is charged with attempted first-degree murder — after deliberation, first-degree assault, two counts of seconddegree assault — intent to cause bodily injury, and one crime of violence sentence enhancer. He was first arrested in 2021 after reportedly hitting another man in the head with a wooden plank.

According to an affidavit, around 2:22 a.m. Oct. 2, 2021, a woman called Lafayette police and said that her boyfriend was hit in the head with a two-by-four.

The woman said they were in a parking lot at 100 W South Boulder Road heading to the hospital. Police arrived and noted that the boyfriend was sitting in the passenger seat with blood all over his face and his right eye was bulging out of its socket.

When officers questioned the man, he was barely conscious but mumbled that Rioux attacked him.

The woman said that her boyfriend and Rioux were drinking and doing cocaine in the living room when she was in the bedroom. She stated that her boyfriend had a kitchen knife with him, but kept it in his pocket and never drew the knife out, according to the affidavit.

Following the argument, the woman told police that Rioux came into her bedroom and yelled about her and her boyfriend being together. According to the affidavit, Rioux then took a two-by-four plank and began repeatedly hitting her boyfriend in the face, the back of the head, and the hand.

Officers responded to the woman’s trailer and found a “substantial” amount of blood covering the bed and the floor.

Later, police were informed Rioux had returned to the trailer. Once police were on scene, they knocked on the door and got no response. After several minutes, the front door opened and Rioux stepped out onto the porch with his hands up, according to the affidavit.

When making contact with Rioux, police noted that he smelled like alcohol and his speech was “noticeably slurred and slow.” According to the affidavit, Rioux told officers that he had five beers and came over to spend time with the woman while her boyfriend was drunk and doing cocaine in the living room. Rioux stated that her boyfriend was becoming progressively belligerent and had a pocket knife with him.

Rioux said he took the plank that was sitting on the front porch and went to confront the boyfriend because Rioux was concerned for the woman’s safety. During the confrontation, Rioux said that her boyfriend clutched the knife in his head, and Rioux said he hit the man with the plank once in the hand, once in the face and once in the back of the head.

Rioux also has two open cases in Arapahoe County and one in Weld County.

His booking photo was not immediately available.